It’s the summer of…

Happy sunshine and s'mores season!

Do you ever find yourself turning your ideas for summer into another to-do list?

I recently listened to an episode of the podcast, The Next Right Thing with Emily P. Freeman, and had an a-ha moment. Summer was turning into a to-do list because I had not set an intention for how I wanted my summer to be. I just jumped in and started doing All The Things. Sound familiar?

It's a great, short podcast if you have 15 minutes. If not, here's the even shorter version....what would it look like if you took a minimalist view of summer and asked yourself “What do I value most for my inner life this summer, and what can I remove that will distract me from it?”

Whoa. How would you answer that question?

The first thing that jumped into my mind was SPACE. I want a summer full of open chunks of time with no plans. I want to cruise through my summer reading list, not cram them all in. I want to be open to the unexpected. I want to just be.

So, I, Stephanie Polen, do hereby declare that (for me) this is The Summer of SPACE.

That means that I'm not saying yes to every invitation...not taking work to the pool...not making to-do lists of fun activities....and not feeling guilty about it. Not one bit.

What do you declare? What is this "The Summer of...." for you?